Foldable cap



July 28, 1959 v F. K. LIPSCHUTZ 2396218 FOLDABLE CA? Filed Jan. 17 1956 2 Shees-Sheet 1 F/g. 2 L INVENTOR! FRANK K. LIPSCHUTZ ATTORNEYS y 9 F. K. LIPSCHUTZ 2,8%218 FOLDABLEI CAP Filed Jan. 17, 1956 2 Shee'hs-Sheet. 2

/i9 INVENTOR. FRANK K. LIPSCHUTZ ATTORNEYS United States Patent FOLDABLE CAP Frank K. Lipschutz, Louisville, Ky., assignor to L'ouisville Cap Corporation, Louisville, Ky. a corporation 013 Kentucky Application January 17, 1956, Serial N0. 559,575

1 Claim. (C1. 2195) This invention relates generally to caps, but has reference more particularly to caps of the type generally worn by the armed forces and known as fatigue caps.

Fatigue caps, such, for example, as that disclosed in Gordon Patent N0. 2716753, have met wide acceptance by the armed forces, but cannot be compressed or folded into a srnall flat package which would enable a serviceman to carry it in bis pocket, when not worn. Such a characteristic or property in a cap of this type is highly desirable, and attempts have been made to produce such a cap, but in all cases, the cap retains, to a great extent, a crumpled, wrinkled 01' distorted appearance after it has been carried in the pocket a few times o1 after it has been cleaned or laundered.

The present invention has as its primary object the provision of a cap of this type, which presents a neat and attractive appearance when wem, and retains such appearance throughout its life, but which can be neatly fold'ed or compressed into a small flat package which can be slipped into the pocket of the servicernan.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap of the character described, which can be quickly and easily folded into a small flat package, and can be just as quickly and easily unfoldedand worn.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cap of the character described, which, by virtue of its ability to be thus folded into a small, compact, flat form, enables the caps to be shipped 01 stored, in large Volurne, in a comparatively small space, With consequent and substantial savings in shipping or storing.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent during the course f the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts thoughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a top lan view of a cap embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the cap;

Fig. 3 is a t0p plan view of the cap, in folded condition;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the cap in folded condition;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the cap, taken 011 the line 55 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the cap, taken von the line 66 of Fig. l.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the cap will be Seen to comprise a crown structure consisting of a front crown panel 1 and a rear crown panel 2, and a top 3, these parts each made of a pliable texm'le or fabric cloth.

The panel 1 is folded at its upper edge to provide a hem 4 which is secured, as by a line of stitching 5, to a downturnecl perimetral flange 6 of the top 3. The panel 2 is similarly folded at its upper edge to provide a hem 7 which is secured, as by a line of stitching 8, to a downturned perirnetral flange 9 of the top 3. The raw edges of the hem 4 and flange 6 am bound 01 covered by a 2,896218 Pa.terited July 28, 1959 binding tape 10, which is preferably secured so the hem and flange by means of the line of stitching 5, and the raw edges of the hem 7 and flange 9 are likewise bound or covered by a binding tape 11, which is preferably secured to the hem and flange by rneans of the line of stitching 8.

The top 3 is provided with portions 12 of triangular shape (Fig. 2) which extend below the lower edges of the panels 1 and 2, but which are concealed from view by the crown band to be now described.

The cap is further provided with a crown band 13 which extends c0m pletely around the cap and is folded at its upper edge to provide a hem 14 which is sewn to the lower edges of the panels 1 and 2 and to the top 3, as by a line of stitching 15. The crown band 13 is preferably made of the same textile fabric as the panels 1 and 2 and top 3, and of the sarne color.

The cap also includes a visor of conventional crescent shaped form, consisting of a flexible reinforcing insert er body 16, made of cork, plastic or like material, and coverings or facings 17 and 18 of the same textile fabric as the parts 1, 2, 3, and 13. The coverings or facings 17 and 18 extend rearwardly beyond the rear edge of the body 16 to provide portions 17 and 18 which are secured, as by stitching 19, to an upturned hem 20 cf the band 13.

A sweatband 21 is also provided, which is substantially coextensive in area With the band 13. The sweatband is provided at its upper edge With a downturned hem 22 which is secured to the panels 1 and 2 and top 3 by the stitching' 15, and is provided at its lower edge with an upturned hem 23 which is secured to the portions 17' and 18 of the viso r coverings and to the panels 1 and 2, by the stitching 19.

The crown structure further includes reinjiorcing members 01' panels 24 and 25, which extend from the upper edges of the panels 1 and 2 to the lower edges of the band 13. These rnembers or panels 24 and 25 are preierably made of a material, such as that described in the copending application of Frank K. Lipsohutz, Serial N0. 503,879, filed April 26, 1955, now Patent N0. 2,803828, granted August '27, 1957, which material is relatively stiff or rigid, as compared with the fabric cloth portions of the cap, but which is sufiiciently flexible to be bent, yet has sufrlcient resiliency to cause it to return to its original shape or condition upon release of the forces or pressures which tend to band it. This material, in other words, is a shape-retaining, resilierit, semi-rigid or self-sustam'ng er supporting material which possesses all of these characteristics irrespective of the direction in which it is bent. The material, moreover, is preferably of an open weave, so as to pro=vide for maximum ventilation of the cap. A preferred stiffening material for this purpose is nylon mesh, having a melamine finish or coating, although other materials having the sarne or similar characteristics may be employed.

As shown in Fig. 5, the reinforcing member 24 is provided at its upper edge with a downturned hem 24 which is sewn to the hem 4 and flange 6 by the stitching 5 and is covered by the tape 10. It extends downwardly between the crown panel 1 and hem 22, where it is secured to the cap structure by the stitching 15, and into the space between the band 13 and hem 20, where it is secured to the cap structure by the stitching 19.

As shown in Fig. 6, the reinforcing member 25 is provided at its upper edge with a downturned hem 25' which is sewn to the hem 7 and flange 9 by the stitching 8 and is covered by the tape 11. lt extends downwardly befiween the crown panel 2 and hem 14, where it is secured to the cap structure by the stitching 15, and into the space between the band 13 and hem 20, where it is secured to the cap structure by the stitching 19.

An irnportant feature of the invention resides in the factthat the cap may be foldedinto a flat compact form, as shown.in Figs. 3 and 4, in which form, it occupies a minimum cf space, in both horizontal and vertical dimension, can be easily slipped into a pocket of the serviceman, remains vinually unobtrusive whilethus carried'by the servicernan, and, can be shipped; or stored in large quantities, inexpensively andwitha minirnum of labor or effort In order, to permit the, cap to be thus folded o1 compacted, it is essential that the shape of the portion A of the top, 3, which is that portionof the top 3 to the right cf a line XX in Figs. 1 and 2, which may be denoted as a crease line, correspond substantially With the shape of the crown panel 2, that-the shape f the Portion B of thetop 3; which is that portion of the top 3 to the right of said crease? line correspond substantially with the shape of the crown panel 1 plus the portion of die band 1310 the right of the crease line, and that the contour of the portions A and B, asviewed in Fig. l, be somcwhat similar to that of thevisor, as shown in this figure.

By thus shaping the portions A and B, and by leaving the top 3, including the ortion 12 thereof unlined, the top 3 may be creased inwardly, along the line XX, the panel 1, iricluding the portion of the band 13 below this panel, may be folded down flat against the visor, the portion B of the top 3 folded down flat against the panel 1, the portion A of the top 3 folded down flat against the portion B, and the panel 2, including t'ne portion of the band 13 below this panel, folded down flat against the portion A of the top. In this manner, the compact, flat condition of tbe cap, as shown in Fig. 4, is attained with virtually no effort, since the top 3 naturally assumes a crease along the line XX by the very act of pushing the top inwardly when the cap is to be folded. This folding cf the cap -is greatly facilitated by virtue ofthe fact that the portions of the band 13 which overlie the portions 12 of the top 3 can easily be folded or creased inwardly along the line X-Xdue to the fact that these portions 12 are not lined with the reinforcing material with which the crown panels 1 and 2 and the remaining portions cf. the band 13 are lined or reinforced.

The cap may be just as easily unfolded 'or opened to place it on the head of the wearer, by merely grasping the from edge of the visor with one band and the rear edge of the band 13 with the other band and pulling these edges apart. When placed on the head of the wearer, the cap appears as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which condition, the cap presents a neat, trirn and attractive appearance. The cap is maintained in this condition not only by the presence of the reinforcixig members 24 and 25, but by reason of the fact that the top 3, which would normally tend to drop or assume a folded condition, is prevented from so doi.ng by its contact with the head oft the wearer.

lt may be noted in Fig. 2, that in the completely unfolded condition of the'cap which is depicted in this figure, that the lower edge cf the band 13 extends in a substantially horizontal plane which is substantially coplanar with the lower edge of the visor 17-18. With 4 this arrangement, the angles w, x, y and z, which are shown, are substantially equal to each other, and form a total arc of about degrees, This equality 013 the angles shown aids in the folding of the cap into the compact, flat condition which has been described.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewitn shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a collapsible cap of the character described, a substantially flat visor member having a free outer edge and a concave inner edge, a crown including a top panel, front and rear crown panels, and a crown band; said top panel being of a configuration defined by an ellipse having diametrically opposite pointed portions lying at the intersection of the marginal edges on the longitudinal axis of the ellipse, said top panel being foldable in- Wardly along a transverse crease line substantially coincident with said longitudinal axis thereby providing front and rear substantially serni-elliptical panel portions, said rear crown panel being 'of substantially semi-elliptical configuration the upperedge conforrning substantially to the arc of curvature 01 the marginal edge of said rear semi-elliptical panel portion, said rear crown panel being secured along said upper edge to a portion of the marginal edge of said rear semi-elliptical panel portion, said freut crown panel being of substantially crescent shape and having a lower concave edge and an upper convex edge which conforms substantially to the arc bf curvature of the marginal edge of said front semi-elliptical panel portion and secured thereto, said pointed portions of said top panel extending downwardly beyond the lower edges of said front and rear crown panels, said crown band extending around the lower periphery of said crown and secured to and depending from said front and rear crown panels adjacent the lower edges thereof, said crown band also secured to said top panel at points inwardly of said pointed portions, said visor member being secured along said concave inner edge to the lower edge of said crown band, said semielliptical portions of the top panel and said front and rear panels together with the subjacent portions of said crown band being foldable t0gether upon the visor in substantially flat parallel relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 625,776 Von Klein May 30, 1899 1210119 Weber Dec. 26, 1916 1,461189 Hennegan July 10, 1923 2,004913 Klein Inne 11, 1935 2158861 Meyer May 16, 1939 2479239 Johnson Aug. 16, 1949 2,716753 Gordon Sept. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,296 Great Britain Jan. 28, 1914 

